Show us your.......newbie progress! [4 Sep 2012 - 4 Oct 2014]

[AndyPeace]

@BrianEvesham
I went down to Worcester University for the fit. It took just over 2 hours. As well as being measured I spent some time on the turbo, switching between light and hard efforts, as this can effect the angles your legs work at. Quite clever how they can read the angles your body is at from a computer screen. Interesting tid bits of info on how the body works too. all in all enjoyed and it was pretty thorough for a basic fit. Was pleased he said I could go back for a follow-up fit in a month and he is emailing me some routines to improve my ham string flexibility along with the results from the fit.

 

[azraphale]

first ride done on nice shiny bike. 6.6 miles done 13.9 avg mph and 366ft elevation. not sure how that stacks up for an average age newbie but i felt it deserved a pint garmin has my max speed at 49mph and strava has it at 43 but i feel neither of these can be right. im using runkeeper on my android phone then exporting the data, anyone know any accuracy issues with this app. ive heard strava has issues

 

[Peter Armstrong]

http://app.strava.com/activities/14771205 First ride Set 07/08/2012
http://www.strava.com/activities/79182317 Set yesterday

This is my progression for just over a year,

 

[welsh dragon]

Hi just came back from my ride. Still knackered, but I managed to do the ride in 35 minutes as opposed to 45 mins like last week, but that was probably due to the fact that last week my tyre pressure on my front tyre was only about half what it should be. Husband pumped my tyre up, but hasn't I inflated it to the correct pressure. I think it should be a minimum of 50psi, but he has put it to 40psi. He says he never liked inflating tyres to the pressures that manufacuters advise so im I'm stuck with it for the moment. on the plus side, I managed to ride approx two thirds of the way up my lane today, as opposed to the last 150 yards or so, so that's an improvement. Also right at the beginning ing of my ride when I get onto the main road I have a sharp right turn over a bridge and up a steep incline. Last week I could not even think of doing it, but today I managed quite well without getting off my bike. Onwards and upwards as they say.

 

[AndyPeace]

first ride done on nice shiny bike. 6.6 miles done 13.9 avg mph and 366ft elevation. not sure how that stacks up for an average age newbie but i felt it deserved a pint garmin has my max speed at 49mph and strava has it at 43 but i feel neither of these can be right. im using runkeeper on my android phone then exporting the data, anyone know any accuracy issues with this app. ive heard strava has issues

Inaccuracies are probably due to gps readings. Sometimes when your gps is tracking you it can become distorted and place you somewhere where your not. Strava and Garmin process the raw gps data differently ( I think strava tries to 'smooth' out anomolies and Garmin just leaves it as is). The only fix is to use a wheel sensor to track your speed. I believe there are ways to edit the data to correct it @Nigelnaturist

 

[AndyPeace]

Hi just came back from my ride. Still knackered, but I managed to do the ride in 35 minutes as opposed to 45 mins like last week, but that was probably due to the fact that last week my tyre pressure on my front tyre was only about half what it should be. Husband pumped my tyre up, but hasn't I inflated it to the correct pressure. I think it should be a minimum of 50psi, but he has put it to 40psi. He says he never liked inflating tyres to the pressures that manufacuters advise so im I'm stuck with it for the moment. on the plus side, I managed to ride approx two thirds of the way up my lane today, as opposed to the last 150 yards or so, so that's an improvement. Also right at the beginning ing of my ride when I get onto the main road I have a sharp right turn over a bridge and up a steep incline. Last week I could not even think of doing it, but today I managed quite well without getting off my bike. Onwards and upwards as they say.

Manufacturer's tend to go for the safe side and most tires can be inflated well beyond the recommended limits. You should prompt your Hubby that under inflated tires are more likely to puncture, as a stiff tire can push debris out of its path, whereas a soft tire will trap it. Tire pressure is also relative to weight (both you and the bike) the greater the weight the higher the pressure needed. If those are 26" (MTB) wheels I'd be going for 60-70psi for road use.

 

[welsh dragon]

They are 28. Its a hybrid. Thanks for the advise, but not a good idea for me to rock the boat. Maybe if I grovel and tell him now much better it is now he may relent and do something. Well see. Once again thanks for the advise. I agree with you. If there has been such a big improvement with the tyre as it is now, then I can't imagine how much better it would be at an even higher pressure.

 

[azraphale]

Inaccuracies are probably due to gps readings. Sometimes when your gps is tracking you it can become distorted and place you somewhere where your not. Strava and Garmin process the raw gps data differently ( I think strava tries to 'smooth' out anomolies and Garmin just leaves it as is). The only fix is to use a wheel sensor to track your speed. I believe there are ways to edit the data to correct it @Nigelnaturist

ahh yes i believe i read somewhere that nigel likes messing with spread sheets and information, thanks for the advice anyway, saving up for a garmin but as you all know beginning biking is exensive and doesnt appear to get any cheaper the longer you ride

 

[azraphale]

take your bike to lbs and ask them nicely to put your tyres to the correct pressure

 

[Supersuperleeds]

They are 28. Its a hybrid. Thanks for the advise, but not a good idea for me to rock the boat. Maybe if I grovel and tell him now much better it is now he may relent and do something. Well see. Once again thanks for the advise. I agree with you. If there has been such a big improvement with the tyre as it is now, then I can't imagine how much better it would be at an even higher pressure.

Hybrid 28s, they should be around 80-90 psi. It will say on the tyre wall what the max is. Invest in a track pump and you will be able to pump them up yourself.

 

[AndyPeace]

@welsh dragon
On the plus side, lower pressures can offer better grip and stability. Best not to mention that one to the other half

 

[welsh dragon]

No. I absolutely will, not mention lower pressures. I live I a very hilly area. Lower pressure I def don't need. Cheers. As for walking my bike to my lbs, that's about 9 miles away. I suppose on the plus side, id be getting some serious exercise that way.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

first ride done on nice shiny bike. 6.6 miles done 13.9 avg mph and 366ft elevation. not sure how that stacks up for an average age newbie but i felt it deserved a pint garmin has my max speed at 49mph and strava has it at 43 but i feel neither of these can be right. im using runkeeper on my android phone then exporting the data, anyone know any accuracy issues with this app. ive heard strava has issues

Well done on your first ride.
Regarding gps readings, the gps plot can be recorded quite a distance apart from each other, but usually and set intervals,
For instance if travel @ 15mph you are doing 7.333 yards per second so over two plots of one second intervals there is only 7 yards, if the distance recorded between the two plots is different the speed will be different for example if the distance is 14 yards your speed will be recorded at 30mph, or correspondingly at what ever speed you are doing. This is a simplistic explanation of it.
Hope it helps. The actual data in TCX or GPX data files can be corrected but it is quite involved. Tracks can also be corrected, but most of the time it isn't worth the effort. Most web based logging applications will export either or TCX or GPX files, these can then be used on any other web application, so even if you dont have a garmin you can create an account and upload these to garmin connect, where certain data fields can be corrected, like max speed, elevation also, but I think garmin tends to be high.

 

[azraphale]

Well done on your first ride.
Regarding gps readings, the gps plot can be recorded quite a distance apart from each other, but usually and set intervals,
For instance if travel @ 15mph you are doing 7.333 yards per second so over two plots of one second intervals there is only 7 yards, if the distance recorded between the two plots is different the speed will be different for example if the distance is 14 yards your speed will be recorded at 30mph, or correspondingly at what ever speed you are doing. This is a simplistic explanation of it.
Hope it helps. The actual data in TCX or GPX data files can be corrected but it is quite involved. Tracks can also be corrected, but most of the time it isn't worth the effort. Most web based logging applications will export either or TCX or GPX files, these can then be used on any other web application, so even if you dont have a garmin you can create an account and upload these to garmin connect, where certain data fields can be corrected, like max speed, elevation also, but I think garmin tends to be high.

erm thanks i think max speed doesnt worry me enough to get involved in it that much. might come in handy for a speed camera challenge on strava but im more interested in getting my avg mph up ready for sportives next year

 

[SWSteve]

As I'm working away this week (Weds and Thurs) I thought I should do some more cycling in and from work (Plus it saves me the £3-4 train far every day) this week.

Today's rides:
http://www.strava.com/activities/79386198
http://www.strava.com/activities/79486705

@RWright if the fellow who sold you your bike knows loads of people who ride that trail, maybe if you spoke to him about being interested he/someone he knows may have an old mountain bike you could try on that trail/somewhere else so you can make an informed decsion whether to buy or not? It could also mean they have another member of their gang.

@Mo1959 I know how you feel re: winter bikes, I'm looking at building/buying a fixie/ss for the winter so am starting to look at cheap bikes on gumtree/ebay which I could the convert. The only issue I have is that I'm tiny and all the bikes I see have large/medium frames (I ride a medium on my secteur but the frame isn't the same as a more 'arse in the air' roadie)